John 6:7

Joh 6:7. Βραχύ τι, a little) Septuag. βραχὺ μέλι, 1Sa 14:43.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 6:7 . Philip swiftly calculating declares it impossible to provide bread for so vast a multitude, Διακοσίων … λάβῃ . “Two hundred denarii worth of loaves are not enough for them that each should receive a little.” “Denarius” means containing ten; and originally the denarius contained ten asses. The as was originally an ingot of copper, aes , weighing one lb.; but long before imperial times it had been reduced to one ounce, and the denarius was reckoned as equal to sixteen asses or four sesterces, and taking the Roman gold piece like our sovereign as the standard, the denarius was equivalent to about 9½d., which at that time was the ordinary wage of a working man; sufficient therefore to support a family for a day. If half was spent in food, then, reckoning the family at five persons, one denarius would feed ten persons, and 200 would provide a day’s rations for 2000; but as Philip’s calculation is on the basis not of food for a whole day, but only for one meagre meal, a short ration ( βραχύ τι ), it is approximately accurate. There were between five and ten thousand mouths. See Expositor , Jan., 1890.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 7. Two hundred pennyworth] This sum, rating the denarius at 7 3/4d., would amount to 6£. 9s. 2d. of our money, and appears to have been more than our Lord and all his disciples were worth of this world's goods. See the notes on Mt 18:28.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Two hundred denarii. As the denarius, according to the computation of Budaeus, is equal to four times the value of a carolus and two deniers of Tours, this sum amounts to thirty-five francs, or thereby. If you divide this sum among five thousand men, each hundred of them will have less than seventeenpence sterling If we now add about a thousand of women and children, it will be found that Philip allots to each person about the sixth part of an English penny, to buy a little bread But, as usually happens in a great crowd, he probably thought that there was a greater number of people present; and as the disciples were poor and ill supplied with money, Andrew intended to alarm Christ by the greatness of the sum, meaning that they were not wealthy enough to entertain so many people.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) Philip answered him.—The answer proves that Philip has not really learnt the lessons of the earlier teaching. The question does not suggest to him the true answer of divine sufficiency, but leads him to think of the human difficulty. He looks on the vast throng of people. At the lowest estimate, it would take the value of 200 denarii to feed them—in present money-value nearly £7; in actual labour-value nearly a workman’s yearly wage. The denarius is the value of a day’s work in the parable (Mat_20:2 et seq.). In A.D. 14, on the accession of Tiberius, one of the causes of revolt in the Pannonian legions is the smallness of their pay, and one of their demands (Tacit. Ann. i. 26) is a penny a day. For Philip this large sum seems an impossibility. He states the difficulty, and leaves it.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. Two hundred pennyworth] Two hundred shillingsworth would more accurately represent the original. The denarius was the ordinary wage for a day’s work (Mat_20:2; comp. Luk_10:35); in weight of silver it was less than a shilling; in purchasing power it was more. Two hundred denarii from the one point of view would be about £7, from the other, nearly double that. S. Philip does not solve the difficulty; he merely states it in a practical way; a much larger amount than they can command would still be insufficient. See notes on Mar_8:4.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Philip answered him,.... Very quick and short, and in a carnal and unbelieving way:

two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them. Two hundred pence, or "Roman denarii", which may be here meant, amount to six pounds five shillings of our money; and this sum is mentioned, because it might be the whole stock that was in the bag, or that Christ and his disciples had; or because this was a round sum, much in use among the Jews; See Gill on Mar 6:37. Or this may be said by Philip, to show how impracticable it was to provide for such a company; that supposing they had two hundred pence to lay out in this way; though where should they have that, he suggests? yet if they had it, as much bread as that would purchase would not be sufficient:

that everyone of them might take a little; it would be so far from giving them a meal, or proper refreshment, that everyone could not have a small bit to taste of, or in the least to stay or blunt his appetite: a penny, with the Jews, would buy as much bread as would serve ten men; so that two hundred pence would buy bread enough for two thousand men; but here were three thousand more, besides women and children, who could not have been provided for with such a sum of money.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

Ver. 7. Two hundred penny-worth] And where will you have half the money? send them away therefore, rid your hands honestly of them, and let us rest and refresh ourselves, as we resolved to do when we first retired hither. Thus he.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This discourse between our Saviour and Philip is reported by none of the other evangelists, and probably was after that which they report of the other disciples’ motion to Christ to dismiss the people, because it was now towards evening. The number (as we shall find afterward) was five thousand, besides women and children; amongst whom five hundred pennyworth of bread was very little to be divided.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Philip took a calculating method of meeting the difficulty, and looked at the question as one which their entire resources were unable to solve. He did not so much as think of the "whence," or from what quarter the loaves could be procured, as how much money would be required to meet the ease. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of loaves are not sufficient for them, that each onemay take a little. The denarius was equal to about eight pence halfpenny of our money; so that the sum spoken of, probably representing the entire contents of their common purse, was only six pounds fifteen shillings, and was utterly insufficient for the purpose. The conversation preserved by Mark (Mar_6:35-37) cannot well be made part of this language of Philip, but rather follows when the short afternoon was coming on, and the long shadows indicated the near approach of darkness. Philip had told the other disciples of the Lord"s question, and they had discussed the possible perils of the case and the intentions of the Lord. It is interesting to see, in Mark, that the same sum was mentioned as being insufficient for the needs of the great multitudes. John has not only abridged the narrative of the synoptists, but added a feature which is of interest, and shows how for some hours the disciples had meditated on what they fancied would be necessary, and had come to the somewhat unwelcome conclusion that they must sacrifice their entire stock of funds. The Lord had first of all made the suggestion. They now go to him, to beseech his influence to send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves something to eat. When the enigmatic words burst from his lips, "Give ye them to eat," the two hundred pennyworth of bread is once more referred to by the disciples as insufficient. (Luk_9:12, 13 Mat_14:15-17)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Two hundred denarii worth of bread

The word "denarii" is the plural of "denarius. "AT: "The amount of bread that cost two hundred days' wages" (See: Biblical Money)

five bread loaves of barley

"Five loaves of barley bread." Barley was a common grain.

loaves

A loaf of bread is a lump of dough that is shaped and baked. These were probably small dense, round loaves.

what are these among so many?

This remark appears in the form of a question to emphasize that they do not have enough food to feed everyone. AT: "these few loaves and fishes are not enough to feed so many people!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

bread

disciple

Andrew

brother

Peter

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

7. διακοσίων δην. Two hundred shillingsworth would fairly represent the original. The denarius was the ordinary wage for a day’s work (Mat 20:2; comp. Luk 10:35); in weight of silver it was less than a shilling; in purchasing power it was more. Two hundred denarii from the one point of view would be about £7, from the other, nearly double that. S. Philip does not solve the difficulty; he merely states it in a practical way; a much larger amount than they can command would still be insufficient. See on Mar 8:4.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7.] See notes on Mark.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. διακοσίων δηναρίων ἄρτοι οὐκ ἀρκοῦσιν κτλ. There is no mention of the “two hundred pennyworth” in Mt. or Lk., but Mar 6:37 makes the disciples say ἀγοράσωμεν δηναρίων διακοσίων ἄρτους; It is probable that Jn. is recalling the phraseology of Mk. at this point, although it is possible that two distinct traditions, that which came through Peter and that which came through John the son of Zebedee, have independently preserved the same remark made by disciples. Jn. several times betrays a knowledge of the Marcan narrative, which he corrects where necessary.1

A denarius was the ordinary day’s wage of a labourer (cf. Mat 20:2). Even if the disciples had as much as two hundred denarii in their common purse (13:29), which is improbable, Philip points out that they would not purchase enough bread to feed five thousand people, nor would it be easy to find so much bread in the vicinity without notice.

There is a reminiscence of the phrase ἵνα ἕκαστος βραχύ τι λάβῃ in a passage quoted below (v. 11) from the second-century Acts of John.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pennyworth [δηναρων] . See on Mt 20:2. Two hundred pennyworth would represent between thirty and thirty - five dollars. That every one may take a little. Peculiar to John.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.